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mad men

The Time & Life Building, located at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, were designed by the Rockefeller family’s architects, Harrison & Abramowitz & Harris. The iconic building was completed in 1959, and actually serves as base of operations for fictional ad-agency Sterling Draper & Partners. Let’s explore further. It is evident by looking at these photos that the set designers of AMC’s Mad Men took...

Ever wondered what it would be like to work at Sterling Cooper & Partners along Don Draper and Peggy Olsen? Are you an admirer of the mid-century furniture, wallpaper and design? Well, look no further. Ultra Swank has jetted off to New York to take a tour of the latest incarnation of the home of Mad Men… and women. Both the agency’s name, look and...

Forget your worries for a while and travel back in time to a place where iconic Mid-Century design and architecture can still be enjoyed and gloriously relived. Located in the famous desert utopia of Palm Springs in California, the Orbit In and the Horizon Hotel boast a chic vintage presence combined with ultra-mod amenities worthy of the most à la mode contemporary hotel. Enjoy drinks by the...

In an early episode of Mad Men, Don Draper shows up for work wearing the same clothes as the day before, having not made it home to his wife the previous night. Inside his office, Don opens a desk drawer to reveal a stack of crisp, identical white button-up shirts. He peels off the old shirt and reaches for a new one. This simple change...

It was contemporary artist Jack Johnson who asked the question “Where’d all the good people go? I’ve been changing channels, I don’t see them on the TV shows. Where’d all the good people go?” I was watching Mad Men the other night and seeing all the antics of the characters it got me thinking about the people of the late sixties and how the show...

The TV show Mad Men om AMC sets a high standard for designer aficionados and gives endless opportunities to pick up inspiration for designers, illustrators and animators. For the season six premiere, Cape Town-based agency Radio came up with a series of three vintage inspired Mad Men posters that feature Don, Roger and Joan in settings that resemble the works of Saul Bass. The three...

Spend anytime on the internet and you will find lots of vintage advertising with ironic witticism tagged on the picture as the blogger marvels at the sexism of vintage advertising. Perhaps it’s Mad Men that has led us to devour anything that seems vaguely retro but for some reason ads from the midcentury continue to be a source of amusement for those who think that...

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Ultra Swank

Ultra Swank is a magazine styled blog that takes you back in time into the kitsch, chic, swank and camp living of the 1940s to the 1970s. We mostly focus on the design, style, and fashion of the happy-go-lucky and space-age-living mentality of that era – but also on the music and movies that takes you back to happier times. Ultra Swank is written by a dedicated team of time travelers from around the globe.